Bitter Ariana Grande “Likes” Instagram Post Shading Carrie Underwood’s Incredible Presidential Inauguration Performance

I think Ariana might be in the minority here. Yesterday, Carrie Underwood attended the inauguration of President Trump to perform “America The Beautiful,” which ended up being a stunning a capella performance after some technical difficulties ensued before the started singing. Her initial decision to be there was of course met with a ton of backlash from some fans who didn’t like the fact that she was lending her talents to a President they don’t like or didn't vote for, but Carrie, who has generally been pretty quiet on politics, responded with class, saying in a simple statement that she was “honored” to be asked to perform for the President and felt humbled to “answer the call” in an effort to display unity: “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.” Notably, Carrie didn’t endorse anyone in the 2024 presidential election or reveal who she voted for. Carrie handled the situation at the inauguration like a total pro, though, and after quite a few moments of waiting and realizing there was probably going to be no music, and millions of people were watching on TV at home, she told one of the staff she would "just sing it," and sing it she did:

Carrie crushed it. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/7C3Db9Lv4M

— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) January 20, 2025

Even for people who don't love President Trump, didn't vote for him, or even for those who loathe his existence... Carrie got overwhelmingly POSITIVE reviews for her performance, and brought the entire room together as the crowd helped her sing. I thought it was a beautiful (and sadly rare) moment of unity, and she met the moment and then some. No one else could have pulled it off like that, in my humble opinion. But it seems as though pop star Ariana Grande, who recently played Glinda in the major motion picture musical Wicked, seemingly wasn't into it. Fans online noticed that she "liked" a post on Instagram that was shading Underwood and her performance, based on a reaction from former Vice President Kamala Harris while she was singing. Of course, it didn't look like Kamala was all the familiar with the words, so maybe the trolls should make note of that... Grande was a very public supporter of the Biden/Harris, and later Harris/Walz campaign, and publicly endorsed them and shared a photo of herself voting early in Florida with Beyonce’s song “Freedom” playing in her Instagram stories in October, so obviously, she wasn't exactly thrilled yesterday. I'll be honest, I absolutely loved Wicked and thought the movie was amazing, and I really don't think it's that big of a deal that Ariana liked the post. She's an amazing vocalist herself, a rare singer who I would put in a similar category with Carrie in terms of their vocal ability, and she's obviously still sour grapes over the fact that her candidate lost. Is it the nicest, most supportive gesture from a fellow female musician? Obviously not, but I think we'll all be able to sleep just fine tonight. Nothing will change the fact that Carrie absolutely blew it out of the water and it will be an important performance that is remembered forever. https://www.instagram.com/p/DFDo-lkufQG/?hl=en